They had nearly reached the foot of the slope before the first Shifter found them.

Once again, Drew warned them before the Grue struck. He motioned to the ground, and the team dispersed in preparation. Alex noticed Jason was sticking a little closer to her than the others, but she didn't try to warn him away. If the Shifter went after him, she'd want to be close enough to help.

Of course, things didn't exactly go the way she'd planned.

The first warning she had was when the ground started to shift. Alex had just enough time to throw herself to the side before the thing came up out of the ground, jaws already open and trying to latch onto her.

Alex hit the ground and rolled, coming up on her feet just as the first spells and projectiles hit home. Jason slammed into the Shifter from the side, knocking it in her direction, even as Mahrez and Carter darted in towards its back.

She didn't wait for either of them. As the creature howled and lashed out with its shovel-shaped claws, Alex charged at it. One distended paw swiped at her, but she took the blow on her shield and ran straight for its throat. Her axe went to work just a handful of moments later, ripping and tearing as the thing continued to thrash its way out of the earth.

By the time it exited its own tunnel, there was already purple smoke flooding down from its ruined neck in a torrent. Alex gave it one last axe blow directly between the eyes and jumped back as it collapsed. The thing made one more wriggling attempt at a lunge as its strength fled, and then it lay still.

[Combat Balance* increases to 26!]

[Objective Progress: 1 of 5 Shifters eliminated.]

Alex grinned at the words, and then stepped a bit further back as the body began to burn. She looked over at the others, seeing Carter give her a nod of approval.

Jason came rushing around the now-bonfire, his expression anxious. Then he blinked in surprise at seeing her unharmed. "That was close! Maybe you should stay in the middle of the formation?"

Alex frowned at him. "I'm fine, Jason. Besides, the Shifters are going to be after all of us, aren't they? It won't matter where we stand." She left unsaid the fact that he was the one they were all assigned to protect anyway, but Mahrez spoke up before either of them could continue.

"She's correct—and that was far from the only one." As if to prove his point, she heard another howl rise nearby. It seemed far closer than it should have been.

Mahrez let it die off and then turned to look at them again. "We should move. Now."

They made it another ten minutes before the next Shifter swooped down on them from the air, this time aiming for Mahrez himself. Then another five before another plowed through the forest, aiming to strike at Drew. They ran across a relatively normal patrol five minutes after that, and then another Shifter attacked from the air while they fought a second patrol, nearly swooping off with Jason in its clutches before Carter and Mahrez brought it down. Alex helped, sending a burst of lightning that tore into one wing, but the amount of attacks was already beginning to worry her.

Of course, she knew it could get worse. If the Shifters were this unrelenting on their own, what would they be like with Liliana involved?

It was a question she was grateful she didn't need to have an answer to yet. At the same time, she had another concern that needed a far more urgent response.

"How much longer do we keep going?" She asked the question quietly, trying to keep it just for Mahrez' ears. The Spellsword glanced at her, his lips quirking in amusement.

"Are you getting tired, Valkyrie?"

She gave him a level look. Though she had been getting a little more worn out than she'd have liked, Recovery had come a long way since she'd first reached C rank. "I'm fine, Mahrez, but not everybody might be."

A short distance away, Jason was getting an extra dose of healing from Bess. The young Ochre Star heir had been a bit shaken by his involuntary flight, and he'd been growing a lot more tired as the fighting went on.

Mahrez nodded. "A fair point." He hesitated. "At the same time, I doubt that an early return would be… appreciated by our employer."

Alex grimaced. "So, how much more do we have left? We already broke one Camp."

"Our other Surveys usually break three. I'd estimate we should continue until we have that much done, at least." He smiled. "We would not want to fall behind everyone else, after all."

She glanced at the sky as another howl echoed out. "Can we even attack a Camp while we're getting hit this hard? It seems like dealing with a Shifter on top of all the other Grue would be pretty risky."

The Spellsword shrugged. "Risky or not, our employer wants an accurate map of the surrounding terrain, and we need to keep the magic levels under control as well." Mahrez glanced at Andrew, who had been peering into the surrounding forest. "Besides, I doubt the Shifters will maintain this rate. It's been bad because of our numbers, but we'll have an opening soon. Right?"

Drew nodded. His voice remained just as quiet as he spoke. "I'd say another two or three more, and then we'll have a gap of twenty minutes or so. A little shorter than normal, but still doable." He looked at Alex with those sharp grey eyes. "If we can get close enough to the next Camp, we'll be able to destroy it during the rest time. After that, we'll have another wave to get through. Rinse, repeat."

She nodded, starting to recognize the possibility. Now that she knew the attacks wouldn't be unending, she could see why the Blue Moon Surveyors weren't exactly panicking yet. They were able to handle the Shifters fairly easily, after all. It mostly seemed to come down to a matter of patience.

Alex nodded and watched as Jason straightened up. Bess gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder, and then looked at Mahrez, who gestured for them all to keep moving. They had almost reached the bottom of the mountain, and if they wanted to use the gap, they'd need to find another target soon.

"You know, Valkyrie, I'm kind of disappointed, honestly."

Alex eyed Carter wearily. They had so far endured eleven different Shifter attacks—of which, she'd only been able to kill two—and destroyed seven patrols. A second Camp, this one located at another aid station of some kind, lay ruined in their wake, and another was located up ahead. They were just taking a short break, such as it was, to give yet another Shifter the chance to kill them before they launched their third assault.

It wasn't a bad place to wait, all things considered. They had found the cluster of ski lodges at the bottom of the slope, where they formed some kind of resort town. Camps were scattered throughout them, and the foreboding pillar of light that marked an Anchor Point was set up at the far edge of the place.

Jason had been tempted to try for one of those Camps, but Mahrez had opted for a more cautious approach. Instead of staying near the town, he'd led them along a small road, in the hopes that they would find a new location. It had taken them to a small hunting cabin of some kind, where another group of Grue were loitering.

The team had settled into their own wait shortly after, in a small thicket of trees that would make it hard to dive at them from the air. It would make for an excellent temporary hiding spot, but it was also apparently secure enough and boring enough to provoke a bit of idle interrogation.

She decided there wasn't a whole lot of harm in taking the bait. "Why is that?"

Carter grinned. "I've just been expecting a lot of crazy powers from you, is all. From the stories, you should be some kind of monster yourself out here, yet all I've seen is just the same old, same old."

Jason gave the Warden a skeptical look. "It seems like she'd been doing a good job. Better than most, actually."

"Well, yeah. Didn't mean to say otherwise." Carter scratched at his nose with one finger. "I just mean… come on! We're talking about someone who fought a B rank while she was a D rank and won. Someone who managed to spend a whole day in a portal and survived. I was expecting some legendary stuff."

Bess rolled her eyes. The Traveler seemed to be keeping up her stamina even better than the others, but she was still getting a workout healing everyone's injuries. Especially Jason. "You know how those stories get blown out of proportion, Carter. Half of it's probably exaggerated or fake, and you know it."

Jason spoke up again, his voice curiously defensive. "Just because it is hard to believe doesn't mean it isn't real. I'm sure that the actual story is just as impressive as the news." He looked back at Alex. "Right, Alex? I mean, you looked pretty legendary when you came to get us out of that mess while you were at Royal Purple."

Alex shrugged, feeling slightly uncomfortable. "It was part of the job. I wasn't going to let you guys die in a situation like that."

"There's a good way to solve all our doubts, you know." Drew still had his eyes on the sky, but he seemed just as interested in the conversation. "Just ask her. She's right there, after all."

Carter seemed to think it over for a moment. Then he shrugged. "Who really killed Wells? Was that you?"

She thought it over for a moment. There didn't seem to be any point in denying it, not when there was video of it, and no NDA to punish her. "Yeah, that was me."

Jason broke in eagerly, his weariness seeming to evaporate before his enthusiasm. "And the B rank? What was her name, Mona Naylor? Was that you too?"

Alex hesitated. "I had a lot of help from my team, but yeah. I finished her off."

Bess scoffed. "Oh really? How'd that happen?"

She looked over at the Traveler. "She fell. Out of a tiltrotor."

There was a sudden, silent pause. Then Mahrez burst out laughing. "Yeah, well, that would do it, wouldn't it? Seems fairly mean-spirited, though."

Alex shrugged irritably. "She was trying to push me out first."

Drew snorted. "That does make it a bit more fair, actually."

Carter broke in again. "And the portal thing? Did you really manage to last more than a day inside?"

She fell silent for a moment, looking for the best answer she could find. In public, she'd always just refused to answer, and she definitely didn't intend to give Blue Moon any hint about the steps to get to Pioneer. At the same time, she had to say something, or they were just going to dig a little deeper. "No. The longest I've ever been in was about eight hours."

Bess clapped her hands. "Ha! I told you!" She wagged a finger at the Warden. "Don't believe everything you hear."

"Then what did happen, Valkyrie?" Drew's voice was idly curious, but she thought there was a curious kind of hunger beneath it. "I've heard a few theories, but it would be good to clear it up."

Alex weighed her options again for a moment. "Let's just say that I had another way around the problem. That's all I can tell you, for now."

Carter's eyebrows tried to climb into his hairline. He whistled. "Now isn't that mysterious. And interesting."

Drew snorted. "You're not talking about the invisibility thing, are you? That kind of Skill is impossible. Nobody's managed it, even with magic."

"Well, how else did she manage it?"

Bess started chuckling. "Who knows? Maybe she found a secret portal." She wiggled her fingers in a pantomime of a spell. "A secret spooky portal that only she could use."

Carter glared at the Traveler. "Oh, can it. You don't know either."

Jason had sat back against a tree, his eyes thoughtful. "Invisibility would be a pretty useful trick. I wonder what kind of Chain you'd have to pick…"

Mahrez was smiling. "Well, if she had it, she definitely doesn't now. I'd think she'd have used it by now, right?"

Alex gave them a noncommittal grunt, and Drew nodded. "Probably. Still, it must have been pretty intimidating, stuck inside for eight hours as a D rank. I didn't go on a Raid like that until I hit C."

She answered before she'd really thought about it. "Oh, that wasn't while I was at Red Blade. That happened at Golden Swallow, when I was still an E rank." There was another sudden silence, and she slowly winced. "I'd appreciate if you didn't tell anybody about that, though. Most of that is still covered by an NDA."

Mahrez nodded slowly. "Probably from Regulation, since Golden Swallow isn't exactly around anymore." He leaned forward a little. "I have heard a few rumors about—"

"Incoming." She'd never been more grateful to hear Drew's voice. The Seeker pointed into the trees behind them. "Moving fast, not flying or digging."

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"Then let's get ready." They all stood, dusting off the snow and bracing themselves. Alex felt an odd burst of gratitude as the Shifter smashed through the trees a moment later. At least a Grue wasn't going to be asking her any questions.

One brief fight later, followed by a slightly longer assault on the Camp, and Alex was left with a steadily increasing feeling of relief. She'd accomplished a good portion of her Objectives already, and if she could just get lucky with the Shifters and patrols on the way back to the portal, she might even have the possibility of a full clear for the day.

As she made her way around the hunting cabin, gathering up the various pieces of crystal and more that the Grue had left behind, she paused as she saw something familiar a short distance away.

It was a security camera, tucked a short distance into the trees beside the road that led to town. She stopped and watched it for a moment, her eyes narrowed in thought. Then she started to look for another one.

She didn't find it at first, at least, not until she noticed that the road that led to the cabin continued a bit further into the woods. There had been a wooden barrier, once, that had been lowered across the track, but time and snow had broken it and buried the remains. Alex found a second camera located a little way past that, partially hidden behind a tree.

"Valkyrie?" Mahrez called out to her from beside the cabin, his voice a little cautious. "Did you find something?"

"Maybe." She looked back at him, and then at the camera. "I think there might be something up this trail."

The Spellsword jogged over to her, and she pointed at the camera. He looked at it, and then back at her. "What do you think that is?"

Alex paused. Then she shrugged. "At Royal Purple, there was a bunker pushed back into the fields. It had cameras set up, just like that one."

Understanding dawned in his eyes. "Oh, one of those." Mahrez shrugged. "Hey, Drew, looks like this portal has a bunker in it!"

There was a muffled curse from where the Seeker had been rooting around in the cabin. Drew came trotting out of the building a moment later, heading in their direction. "You're serious? Here?"

Mahrez nodded. He pointed to the camera. "Valkyrie here has run across one before, and she says the cameras look the same. What do you think?"

The Seeker paused. Then he swore again, quietly under his breath. "Yeah. Looks about right." He shook his head. "No wonder we haven't been able to find the last Anchor Point. It's probably tucked away in there."

Alex frowned. "So there are Anchor Points inside them?"

Andrew shrugged. "Probably, but nobody has ever been able to know for sure."

She blinked. "Why not?"

"Because anyone who tries to go in gets thrown back out!" Carter was stomping his way over to join them, a grin on his face. "All they remember is a message saying that Surveyors aren't permitted inside. At least, the ones who don't go a little crazy afterwards."

Bess groaned. "Don't go spouting your theories again, you nutcase."

"Hey, that's offensive." Carter folded his arms and frowned. "I'm just open-minded."

Alex looked at the camera again and thought about the words. "No Surveyors allowed, huh?"

Mahrez nodded. "So I've been told. Either way, we can mess with it some other time. Good job spotting it, though." He turned to the others and raised his voice. "Let's head back to the portal! If there's a bunker around, there's probably going to be more Shifters than usual. I don't want them to think they can get an extra strike in."

There was a chorus of grudging agreements, and the team started to trudge towards the road. Alex stayed where she was, still looking at the camera and pondering about bending rules.

Then she turned and jogged after them to catch up. There would be time enough for mysteries another day.

The journey back to the portal wasn't nearly as pleasant as the trip downhill had been.

It wasn't enough that they were attempting to go uphill, though that certainly didn't help. As they had turned to march up the slope, small flakes had begun to drift down from the eternally grey sky. The snow beneath their feet grew deeper, and as the snow thickened in the air around them, it grew harder and harder to see the Grue still hunting them.

Of course, the conditions didn't seem to hamper the Shifters much at all. They continued to throw themselves at the team, plowing through the soil or winging in from above. Even the ones that were content using their armored, spike-tailed forms didn't seem to mind slogging through the deepening snow, though they occasionally slipped in the sludge.

Fatigue wore on the Surveyors as they ascended the mountain. Mahrez and Jason seemed to feel it first, but even Bess, Drew, and Carter slowed down as they fought their way up the slopes. Alex could feel her breath burning in her lungs as she struggled forwards as well, but Recovery seemed to have reached a point where she wasn't gasping for breath after every fight.

She didn't have unlimited energy, however, which was why she saw the upper part of the ski lift with something approaching exhausted relief. They had fended off a solid five patrols, and another wave of Shifter attacks just a short while ago, so the fact that their destination was very nearly in sight was reassuring.

It was at that point that Drew grunted. "Another Shifter. Coming in from above."

The others sighed. Mahrez muttered something under his breath before raising his voice. "All right. Jason, Bess, see if you can light it up for the rest of us. Bring it down to the ground so the rest of us can hit it."

As the others acknowledged the orders, Alex reached inside and started to call on the Storm. Her magic had been used a lot over the past hours, but she still had enough for one or two strong bursts. If she could just lure the thing in close enough, maybe she could land a strong enough hit to kill it. She only had two left for her final objective, after all.

The Shifter made its appearance a short time later, its grey form almost impossible to see against the backdrop of both clouds and snow. Andrew still pointed it out easily, though, and beams of sunlight suddenly shot out to strike the creature. It wavered, obviously unhappy about the attack.

It didn't flinch enough to abort its attack, however, and Alex's heart leapt a little as it fixated on her. In case she'd missed it, Mahrez shouted above the sizzle and hiss of the Sun magic being thrown around. "Alex, it's on you! Get ready!"

She nodded without looking away from the thing. Her breath continued to mist in the air in front of her as it swooped in, its own mouth gaping wide. It looked like it intended to strafe her, covering the ground in the poisonous bile already bubbling up from its throat.

It was easy enough to scatter it, but a new idea occurred to her as she watched it dive. Alex funneled the power of the Storm into the air above her, waiting for the Shifter's mouth to gape open.

When it did, she channeled a pure burst of wind and blasted the Shifter's poison straight back into its own throat.

Not all of the poison ended up in the Shifter's mouth; plenty of it spread across the thing's face and eyes. She saw it suddenly retch, like someone who had breathed in a drink of water, and its wings folded up as its own toxic breath blinded it. Alex saw its altitude dip, and she yelled over the swirling snow. "Watch out, it's coming down!"

The team scattered, and Alex turned her back on the Shifter to run up the side of the mountain. A glance backwards told her that the Shifter had recovered enough to beat the air with its wings, but it was still coughing and hacking too hard to keep itself in the air. With the slope of the mountain rising up in front of it, the thing had no chance to avoid the ground.

It slammed into the snow just a few strides behind her, half-burying itself in the snow with a crunching impact. Alex spun around and slid to a stop, crouching low as the Shifter tumbled through the wreckage of its own crash towards her. She heard Jason shout something, but she ignored it as she focused on the incoming threat.

Snow swirled around her as Alex charged, her boots propelling her down the slope. Ahead of her, the Shifter erupted from the snow, its expression caught between dazed injury and sheer rage. It coughed again, raising one clawed arm to swipe at its eyes and mouth as if to clear its sight.

Before it even had the chance to register her, Alex dashed in under its grasp. Her axe punched into the thing's knee, ruining the joint in a single explosion of purple smoke. It staggered, and she shield-checked another leg while still at full speed. She heard bones crunch as the limb bent in the wrong direction, and the Shifter's breath rose in a gurgling, strangled shriek.

The Shifter lurched, trying to catch sight of her, and Alex spun around to face it. As it turned, hobbled by the pair of ruined limbs, she caught it with another blast of wind, this time from behind. She saw the Shifter's eyes go wide as its feet lost hold on the snow, and it faceplanted into the ground, still tumbling down towards her.

Alex didn't give it the chance to rise again. Her magic was done, but she still had plenty of endurance left, more than enough to charge the Shifter's head. She blocked a quick snap of the jaws with her shield, breaking a tooth as she did, and then she darted in to put her axe to savage work on the Grue's throat. It fought her, trying to scrabble back to its feet, but it was already too late.

As it went still a few brutal chops later, she slumped to her knees in the snow, breathing hard. Amber words burned to life.

[Battle Maneuvers*** increases to 32!]

[Objective Progress: 4 of 5 Shifters eliminated.]

One more, and she'd have the full clear. As long as everyone else survived, of course.

The thought brought her head up, almost as much as the Shifter's suddenly burning body. She looked up the slope to find the rest of the team heading for the portal again. Mahrez paused long enough to wave at her. "Come on! Another one's already coming!"

She growled to herself and lurched back to her feet. It felt like agony itself to push herself back into a slow jog, her boots sinking into the snow as she moved. By the time she caught the others, she felt like they were on fire. "How… close?"

Drew's breath was ragged as well. "Couple of… minutes."

She nodded and slowed her pace to match the others. Jason was really struggling now, his feet slipping on the snow, and Mahrez didn't look much better. Alex made a quick decision. "Which… direction? I can… hold it off. Distract it."

Mahrez gave her an incredulous look, but Bess spoke up. "Might… work. Just for a little."

Jason shook his head, even as he stumbled. "No. We all… we all…"

Alex looked back at Mahrez again. "Get him out."

The Spellsword hesitated. Then he nodded. "You're probably… the fastest one here. Don't stay… long."

She nodded again, and Drew pointed a little off to the side. Alex accelerated again, forcing her way ahead of the rest of the group. They were still partway down the slope when she crested the hill and paused, allowing her legs to rest for a moment. Amber words appeared again as she tried to catch her breath.

[Recovery increases to 30!]

Alex nodded, feeling the stamina slowly begin to return to her. She searched the skies for a moment, at least until she heard something crashing through the trees to her right.

It was one of the armored ones, with its spiked tail glimmering. She set her eyes on it and braced herself behind her shield. As the others reached the hill, she yelled back at them, not daring to take her eyes off the thing. "Get to the portal! Go!"

The Shifter snarled, gathering itself for a leap, but she moved to put herself squarely in its way. She could see its gaze fixed on one of the others as they ran, but she needed it to track her instead. Alex clashed her axe against her shield, the sound ringing over the snow. "Hey ugly. I'm right here."

It turned to face her, and she braced herself just in time. The stinger slammed into her shield, knocking her backward a handful of steps. She jumped a little further backwards as it snapped at her, the glittering, dagger-length fangs closing on empty air. A second stinger strike nearly slipped past her guard, but she continued to give ground slowly, buying time for the others to go.

[Objective Progress: 1 of 5 Surveyors saved.]

She heard Mahrez' voice over the Shifter's growling. "Valkyrie!"

Alex didn't look back. "Go!"

The Shifter was focused entirely on her now, and it was sucking in a breath that was sure to launch another stream of poison. She didn't give it time to breathe; instead, she darted in at its feet, forcing it to strike at her with its stinger again. Alex turned it aside.

Then the Grue froze in place, as if it had suddenly turned to ice. She looked back and saw Mahrez holding his hand out, his expression focused. The rest of the team was already funneling back through the vortex. "Come on! Now!"

Alex glanced at the Shifter and then started running. Mahrez waited until she was nearly to the portal and then nodded. He stepped through, vanishing with the rest of the team.

[Priority Objective Completed.]

As the Spellsword disappeared, Alex slowed. She looked back to see the Shifter freed from its time prison. It looked almost comically confused by the situation, though its eyes once again filled with malice as it locked onto her. Alex saw muscles bunching beneath its armor plates as it prepared to spring.

She could have easily reached the vortex before the Grue could reach her, but Alex just tucked her axe away for a moment and grabbed something else from her pouch. As the Grue prepared to pounce, Alex reversed course. Snow flew out behind her as she sprinted to her target, a Rage that she'd harvested from one of the Brutes clutched in her hand.

The Grue launched itself through the air, its maw wide and ready to close on her. At the same time, she crushed the Rage in her palm, letting berserk strength fill her. She jumped up to meet the Shifter, shooting through the air like a missile. Alex felt a flicker of wonder at the feeling, wondering if using the Leap Skill would be similar.

Then she hit, slamming shield-first into the Shifter like a battering ram. There was a terrific, shattering crunch that echoed through the mountains. One moment, the Shifter was there. The next, its body spun through the falling snow like a broken toy. It slammed into the pillar for the ski lift, folding around it with a second crack that sounded like a gunshot.

Alex landed and nearly fell, her momentum carrying her a little farther than she expected. She slid to a stop just before the edge of the slope and turned to face the creature. It was still twitching, but as she started to charge it, the Shifter jerked and went still.

[Combat Balance* increases to 30!]

[Additional Objective Completed.]

She stared at the words for a moment, still breathing hard in the quiet, muffled air. Then she began to crunch her way back to the portal, feeling the ache of her limbs as she walked. Another full clear down.

[Mission Report]

[Completed an Objective. +20 Experience]

[Priority Objective Completed. +100 Experience]

[Additional Objective Completed +200 Experience]

[Additional Objective Completed +60 Experience]

[Additional Objective Completed +60 Experience]

[Additional Objective Completed +40 Experience]

[All Objectives Complete +160 Experience]

Her first full clear as a C rank. It had definitely been well earned, even if Mahrez and his fellow mercenaries had helped out. A little.

[Current Portal Status: Stable, Magic Level Stable]

[Current Portal Level: C2]

[Local Area Population: None]

It was good to see the portal was stable at least, though that hadn't exactly been her priority.

The next sets of words were almost as encouraging.

[Battle Maneuvers*** increased from 31 to 32!]

[Combat Balance* increased from 24 to 30!]

[Running increased from 21 to 27!]

[Recovery increased from 23 to 30!]

It had taken far too much running around in the snow, but she was seeing real progress from her Skills now. She felt a little more reassured about her progress, even as she continued forward through the report.

Her options appeared to have multiplied a little.

[Recovery has reached level 30! Skill is at Max Level and can no longer increase.]

[Reset Recovery to gain a Title?]

She denied it, knowing full well she had plans for the Skill.

[Focus has reached level 30! Skill is at Max Level and can no longer increase.]

[Reset Focus to gain a Title?]

She had the same response for Focus as well. The next one, however, gave her pause.

[Concentrate—Storm has reached level 30! Skill is at Max Level and can no longer increase.]

[Reset Concentrate—Storm to gain a Title?]

It was a tempting option, but she didn't want to rob herself of her magic for the next Survey. With all the Shifters running around, she desperately needed a way to avoid their breath or hit them from a distance. For now, she'd need to keep it as it was. Alex denied it.

Her next options were a little more inviting, however.

[Skill Chain available. Do you wish to combine Recovery and Running?]

[Warning: Chained Skills lose all previous levels]

Alex almost took the option, even if Running was still not at maximum. The allure of gaining Marathoning was a fairly large one, even if it meant she'd be back at low levels of stamina.

She denied it, though. After all, she had other ideas.

[Skill Chain available. Do you wish to combine Recovery and Focus?]

[Warning: Chained Skills lose all previous levels]

This time she agreed, and both Skills seemed to vanish from her in a rush. New power filled her, giving her a familiar feeling.

[Skill Chain unlocked! Skills Recovery and Focus removed. Skill Meditation gained! Skill Chain bonus gained! Title Tireless upgraded to Title Unwearied (Increases Skill grade of Recovery, Focus, Meditation, Arcane, and Concentrate Skills by four.)]

The power of the upgraded Title nearly made her forget how tired she suddenly felt. She shook her head and continued forward.

[Skill Choice available. Please select an additional Skill.]

She selected Recovery again, hoping that it wouldn't take her as long to increase it. At the very least, she'd be one step closer to regaining Motion Trance. Getting that Skill back would be worth all the miserable leveling in the world.

With no further options, Alex let the light carry her back…

Alex landed on the concrete steps in front of the vortex and groaned. Every muscle seemed to ache, and for some reason, there was snow falling in this world as well. She shook her head and looked up.

The rest of the team was waiting for her. Jason and Mahrez were standing close together; it looked obvious that they had been fighting. Alex frowned at them as she looked back and forth between them. "Is everyone all right?"

Tension melted off of Jason's face immediately. He smiled and spread his arms wide. "Yeah, now that you're here." He looked around at everyone. "Well, I'd call that a pretty solid first mission, wouldn't you?"

A slightly unenthusiastic chorus of agreements came back to him, but he didn't appear to notice. "All right, then! Let's go get some food, and then we'll have the chance to rest until tomorrow. I think April's got some interviews lined up for us, so we'll want to look our best…"

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